The Italian Electoral Law of March 2014: Still Constitutionally Questionable?
Résumé
1st lines; Sentence 01/2014 published on the 15th of January 2014 by the Italian Constitutional Court declared the Electoral Law 270 of the 21st of December 2005 unconstitutional. The law (famously known in Italy as the Porcellum or “pigsty” to stress the quality of its content) had been drafted by a member of the right-wing xenophobic Lega Nord (Northern League) party. The Northern League was at the time in government together with Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (Go Italy!) party and the law was approved by the ruling coalition against the votes of all opposition parties.
While the law drew harsh criticism from a variety of political scientists, constitutional experts and public commentators both in Italy and abroad for its many shortcoming, the Constitutional Court concentrated its criticism of Law 270 on fundamentally two aspects.